There are a handful of goals that are universal, that resonate with almost everybody who follows the game
There are a handful of goals that are universal, that resonate with almost everybody who follows the game. Diego Maradona scored two of them in the space of five minutes against England in the World Cup quarter-final in 1986 – goals much better remembered, in Argentina, in England, everywhere, than either of his brilliant goals in the semi-final or than any of the five goals in the final. What makes a goal indelible is far more to do with context and narrative than the quality of the strike or even the stage at which it is scored.
There are very few truly universal goals. How many, really, could you mention to a fan in Beijing or Baltimore, Jakarta or Johannesburg, in the realistic expectation they could describe it? Maybe it is a facet of ageing, but as the volume of football on television has increased, such strikes seem to have become fewer and further between.
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The goal beat the world and European champions and made people, perhaps for the first time, take notice of Senegal
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